Project management

We don’t wear shoes, we use footwear!

January 22, 2009

(A short, almost pointless rant about PMBOK vs. Sure Step nonsense) Once, while preparing an important RFP response, a partner told me they don’t use Sure Step because they use PMI methodology. This made my toenails curl up—when people tell me they are using PMI methodology, they in fact tell me they are using no [...]

[click to continue reading…]

The value of Degree of Fit: understanding risks

January 12, 2009

The degree of fit is an important indicator of your project’s alignment with the standard functionality. After you determine the degree of fit, and understand what it means for the project, do you just passively accept the findings, or do you do something to make them more favorable?

[click to continue reading…]

Sure Step in action: Degree of Fit

January 8, 2009

I’d like to have a BMW X6. A fantastic car. Only, I’d like it to be convertible, because I love the feel of wind in my hair while driving into summer sunset. I could use a glass roof as well, it makes the interior feel much more spacious. And of course, it can’t have that [...]

[click to continue reading…]

Implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009

December 10, 2008

Where I have been for the past eight months… This blog started enthusiastically, I had as many as 14 posts per month. Taking into account that blogging was only a hobby, I blogged like crazy. Then I went silent. No, I wasn’t tired from blogging, I didn’t experience a writer’s block, quite the contrary! I [...]

[click to continue reading…]

Look me in the eye!

November 27, 2008

(A short rant about eye-contact-based specifications.) In short, there is no such things as an eye-contact-based specification. And for a reason. While kicking-off of a project, we had a discussion with the customer about the change management approach, and specification detail.

[click to continue reading…]

What’s New In Sure Step: Functional Requirements Document

October 30, 2008

One of many improvements the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step methodology has brought along is the revised purpose of the Functional Requirements Document (FRD). This document has long served as cornerstone of every Analysis process of every implementation project: it was the main deliverable of the Analysis phase and it both documented customer’s [...]

[click to continue reading…]

The Sure Step Rule of Taxi Fare

October 12, 2008

Some time back, as I was riding a taxi from Prague airport to Holiday Inn hotel, I wondered about the fixed price I was about to pay for the ride. – “Airport to city is 700 flat.” – said the driver when I asked how much approximately will it cost. Common wisdom goes that flat [...]

[click to continue reading…]

Read My Lips: Why?

September 24, 2008

Recently, a reader, commenting on my last post about Sure Step, pointed me to an article by Karl E. Wiegers “Read My Lips: No New Models!” I initially responded to the comment, but I figure the comments aren’t read as often as posts, so I decided to blog it. It’s doubly funny that the reader [...]

[click to continue reading…]

Diagnostic Phase – a signpost for implementation

September 19, 2008

Each phase of Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step methodology is equally important in an implementation project. You could argue that analysis is the most important, or that design is the most important, or that operation is less important. I’ll paraphrase Scott Adams here and ask: how one phase can be more important if each of them [...]

[click to continue reading…]

A case for Sure Step: how Sure Step brings project success

September 11, 2008

Methodology is a tough topic. There are good methodologies, there are bad methodologies, there are good methodologies gone bad. Methodology is not a silver bullet, it won’t just make any problems disappear, and is hardly ever the single source of success or failure. But a methodology can be a major contributor to success. I could [...]

[click to continue reading…]

“Our old software” syndrome

August 1, 2008

A few days back, while prototyping a new solution for a customer, one of the key users said: “But in our old software it didn’t work like that.” I was about to try to explain why the change, but then the user’s boss said: – We aren’t implementing a new solution so that everything can [...]

[click to continue reading…]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →